Pages

This posting is part of the COLGATE's - MY HEALTHY SPEAK Blog ContestTeething problem - You can hear this everywhere when someone starts something new. What "teeth" has got to do with this? Why they use this term in any project?

A child while getting the initial teeth set will get pain and suffer. Same way, any initial pains/challenges during the project is termed as Teething Problem.

Teeth are very important from a beauty, pronunciation and health perspective. Without teeth you cannot bite the food and cut to pieces or grind them to have a good digestion.

Who guards the teeth? The mouth covering from outside. But the gums are the one which holds them in good position and safeguards the roots.

It is our primary duty to keep our gums and teeth properly guarded. Else, we will be loosing our beauty, speech, health. Do you know? tooth decay can lead to heart disease, diabetes etc.,

There are links between periodontal disease and a number of other problems, including:

Heart disease

Diabetes

Dementia

Rheumatoid arthritis

Premature birth

What's behind the links? Experts can't say for certain, but they believe that oral bacteria can escape into the bloodstream and injure major organs.

Such is the danger of infected gums..Gingivitis, plague can ruin your health and may lead to fatal death, if unattended.

Preserve your gum, do not ignore the bleeding in the gum. It may be an indication. Consult your dentist. Use good fluoride based paste.

Some dental tips:

Avoid sweets. If you take, brush immediately.

Do not ignore bleeding in the gums.

Use mouthwash (if possible brush) after meals

Brush in the morning and before going to bed.

Have regular check up done with your dentist.

Teeth are not only useful for us, but also for animals, reptiles etc., Once there was a snake in a village and it hiss and bite the passer-by. The villagers decided to get rid of the snake. But snake is regarded as a holy reptile. So, the decided to take it teeth out. After taking the teeth the snake never came out to trouble the villagers. So, kids started throwing stones at the snake and it was hurt and weak. Once a sage passed by the snake and the snake requested the sage to save the life. The sage said, since your teeth are gone, you cannot bite anyone and pass on the poison. But you can hiss and chase them out. From that day the snake started hissing and chased people out, when they come near to hurt. It realized the importance of teeth that day!

God has given us beautiful set of teeth and let us preserve it. The moral of the story is.......decide quickly, which one?

10 ways to save money from your monthly expenses at this inflationary situation:

1. Credit Card / Personal Loan

Do not use credit card without knowing your repaying capacity. You will be surprised when you see the Interest & other charges when you default a payment or pay only the Minimum Amount Due.Some credit card companies attract people by offering Interest free EMI. This is a catch. They will charge an one-time, upfront service charge, which is almost translate into your interest cost.

If you have personal loans and have some surplus cash, better part close the personal loans.

Fill fuel early morning (before 7am). Once the heat sets in, the petrol expands and you get less for the money you pay.

4. Communication

Nowadays, the communication cost has come down. It is psychological that when you know something is cheap, you dont mind spending and end up more. So, use your mobile & landline diligently for long distance (Domestic & International).

Look at other avenues like Chat, Skype, etc., Few of them have video facility too. Above all, they are free.

5. Electricity

This is what I have done in my home.

Take bath at a particular time - This will improve the Geyser usage. This is the main contributor for the bill. If possible and you are used to - take cold water bath. Good for health & purse.

Switch off lights & fans when not required - This is religiously done by my family members.

Use CFL bulbs.

Accumulate your clothes for ironing and do it once or twice a week, depending on the requirement. This will save your time and also power.

6. Cooking cost

Eat together - this will reduce the separate heating cost and good for family to have food together.

Prepare yourself with the vegetables before cooking. Buy vegetables, which has good shelf life once a week and use them. This will reduce your trip to the stores. Do not waste food.

7. Water

For those in apartments & individual houses, water cost is a nightmare. So, use the water diligently. We use the recycled water (from the water purifier) for plants.

Take water from home in a pet bottle. It is good for health and also on your purse.

8. Entertainment, shopping & malls

When we crib about increasing cost, we do not want to restrict ourselves from spending. Look at possibility of reducing the number of visits to multiplex. There are cinema theatres still, which is airconditioned,with DTS effect. Only thing that will be missing is the luxury chairs. Remember, we are going to be there only for 2-3 hours. Why spend money when you have plethora of channels for entertainment.

If possible, avoid visiting malls. The offers will attract you and you may end up buying, which you may not really need it, since there is an offer. It is better to keep the credit card at home when you go there.

9. Exercise regularly

Keep your body fit and in good condition. The medical cost itself will kill you. It is better not to fall sick nowadays. Exercise regularly, have a good eating habit. Take a medical insurance, if you do not have one. Look for some stores, which offer discounts on medicines & other items sold by them (example: MedPlus).

10.Monthly budget

Prepare a monthly budget and spend some time in monitoring your expenses against the budget. It will work and is working for me. If you have any annual payouts like Investment for tax savings (PPF, LIC Premium, etc.,), annual fee for the kids, start a Recurring deposit with a bank and make sure the amount is made available for your use.

Plan and spend for essentials & necessities. Avoid luxury and nice to haves.

With the economy not showing up any sign of recovery, scams, polls around the corner, the Finance Minister decided to mop up the tax collection by introducing a Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) from transfer of immovable property.

Why this measure? In our country, the real estate business lacks transparency and most of the deals are done through cash. Thus lot of black money being created in the process.

What this new measure says?

This takes effect from 1-Jun-2013.

In a transaction of immovable property transfer valuing Rs.50 Lakhs (Rs.5 million) or more, the buyer has to withhold (deduct) 1% of the value and remit to the tax department.

The transfer of agricultural lands is exempted from the above

The rate of deduction can go to 20% if the PAN is not provided by the seller. If PAN is provided, the deduction will be at 1%.

When to deduct?

at the time of making any payment or crediting of any sum as consideration for transfer of immovable property.

What are the compliance?

One single page simple challan for the payment containing details (mainly PAN) of the transferee and transferor and the some details about the property.

The transferee need to required to obtain any Tax Deduction and Collection no. (TAN).

The transferor can get credit of the amount deducted based on the TDS Challan provided by the transferee.

What are the contents of the one page challan?

Permanent Account No. (PAN) of Transferor (Payee/Seller)

Category of PAN of Transferee

Category of PAN of Transferor

Full Name of the Transferee

Full Name of the Transferor

Complete Address of the Transferee

Complete Address of the Transferor

Complete Address of the Property Transferred

Details of amount paid/Credited

Tax Deposit Details

With real estate companies are lobbying to roll back this provision, this will also increase the compliance and claiming of the amount so deducted. Let us wait and see.

It was exactly a year before that I posted my last post on leadership (in Cricket). Today, a history was created in Cricket. Yes, Sachin finally scored his 100th CENTURY!

Congrats Sachin!

Sachin's long awaited 100th Century overshadowed the Union Budget. How was the budget? The simple dipstick is the Sensex. Market was positive till the budget was presented and went down to close 210 points lower!

It shows that market is not happy about the budget.

Let us see what is in store for the salaried class and individuals:

Tax rate Current Proposed

Basic exemption 180,000 200,000

10% 180,001 - 500,000 200,001 - 500,000

20% 500,001 - 800,000 500,001 - 1,000,000

30% 800,001 & above 1,000,001 & above

No special concession for women. The basic exemption stands revised to Rs.200,000 (from the current Rs.190,000).

For the Senior Citizen (60-80 yrs) & Very Senior Citizen (80+ yrs) - No change in the basic exemption

Senior Citizen - Proposed tax rates

Upto Rs.250,000 - Nil

250,001 - 500,000 - 10%

500,001 - 1,000,000 - 20% (current : 500,001 - 800,000)

Above 1,000,000 - 30% (current : 800,001 & above)

Very Senior Citizen - Proposed tax rates

Upto Rs.500,000 - Nil

500,001 - 1,000,000 - 20% (current : 500,001 - 800,000)

Above 1,000,000 - 30% (current : 800,001 & above)The Finance Minister could have done more, but UPA needing support from others forced them to do a moderate budget.

Clear leadership demonstrated by Dhoni. No wonder he is able to lead the team to many heights, including the World Cup.

Gary, no doubt, has done his part really well in bringing the team up in ranks - be it Tests, ODI or the T20. India is in the top.

Sachin no doubt the master blaster. He could have finished the top run scorer in the Cup, but his quick stint in the final match could not take him to the top.

Zaheer is undoubtedly the dependable bowler - YES..there is no other bowler who could support him.

Gambhir, Shewag, Kohli, Yuvaraj - demonstrated that they are still capable of big innings. Gambhir's innings in the final is a class. He is an unsung hero.

Dhoni has silenced many critics, including me. People were questioning his team selection and batting line up. It is always easy to sit outside and comment. He is a clear Leader, who knows his team very well and utilised them very well.

In the final match, he took on his shoulders the responsibility and finally proved that he can do it.